Miami-Dade Transit opens MIA Metrorail Station

Miami-Dade Transit opened its 23rd Metrorail station, the new Miami International Airport (MIA) Station on July 28.

The MIA Station is the centerpiece of the People's Transportation Plan (PTP). In 2002, Miami-Dade County voters approved a half-penny sales surtax, overseen by the Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust (CITT), to fund the People's Transportation Plan. The PTP is a program of both roadway and transit improvements. Construction of MDT's extension and station were funded with $404.7 million from the PTP surtax and $101.3 million from the Florida Department of Transportation.

The station allows residents and tourists to board the system at any of its 22 downtown and suburban stations and be whisked to the intermodal center, adjacent to MIA and then hop on the automated MIA Mover light-rail shuttle directly to the airport. The Miami International Airport Station and Orange Line Service is an elevated 2.4-mile spur built by a joint venture of Odebrecht and OHL at a cost of $360 million.

"Moving people is what we are all about and we have now reached the day when our passengers can move seamlessly between various forms of ground transportation, mass transit and air travel," said José Abreu, director of the county's Aviation Department that operates MIA.

"The result of the successful completion of this project will not only provide more travel choices for people but it will place every hotel and business in downtown Miami, Kendall and everywhere else along the Metrorail system at the front door of Miami International Airport, the largest economic engine in the region," said Ysela Llort, Miami-Dade Transit's director.